Dublin - Highlighting the violence and cruelty towards animals on fur farms, a member of Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) will walk down Grafton Street wearing a full length fur coat, where she will be set upon by a man wielding a club, who will 'beat' her over the head and rip the fur from her back. Accompanying this bloody protest, will be activists holding a banner reading "What If You Were Killed For Your Coat?", distributing leaflets to shoppers urging them never to buy real fur and holding pictures of a dead skinned fox.

August 17th, 2005

Place: Barnardo Furs, Grafton Street - Opposite Molly Malone Statue

Why the heated protest? ARAN wants consumers to know that animals raised on fur farms in Ireland are confined year-round to small, crowded, filthy cages and that their suffering is compounded during the summer when countless animals suffer from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Baby animals are the most common victims, since they can easily die in the searing temperatures. Over 150,000 Mink and Fox are gassed and electrocuted on Irish fur farms each year; their skins are then ripped off and exported to the continent.

In 2001 the UK government banned farms on the grounds that they were cruel and against public morality. In Ireland this year, Dan Boyle of the Green Party introduced the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Bill 2004, which was debated in the Dail. The Bill was supported by ALL opposition parties but defeated by the Government parties by 67 votes to 50. ARAN believes the Government should be ashamed to oppose legislation that would have led to fur farming being banned in the Republic of Ireland where there are currently 5 mink farms and farm one with mink, silver and Arctic fox.

"The shocking behind the scenes violence inherent in the fur industry is deliberately hidden from the public who never get to see what happens to animals on fur farms", said ARAN National Events Coordinator John Carmody. "This winter we will bring the brutal bloody side of the fur industry onto the streets to show people the cruelty that lies behind every scrap of fur."

This shocking event will also take place in Belfast, Galway, Cork and Limerick City.

Footage and photographs of animals on fur farms are available on request